Bangalore, Karnataka, India and Cambridge, MA and San Diego, CA, United States
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) and Nine Systems Corp., Inc. announced today that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement for Akamai to acquire Nine Systems in a merger transaction. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Nine Systems' stockholders, is expected by year-end. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Akamai earnings on a normalized, diluted per share basis* in 2007.
The acquisition of Nine Systems provides Akamai with a robust rich media management framework upon which services can be built to enable customers to more effectively control and monetize their digital assets. Akamai plans to integrate Nine Systems' Stream OS, a suite of configurable rich media management tools that enable easy production and publishing of content online, into the global Akamai network. Akamai's goal is to provide customers worldwide with a unified solution for managing content and controlling delivery across the industry's most pervasive rich media distribution platform.
"We are excited about offering a new and comprehensive solution for the delivery, management, and control of online media assets," said Paul Sagan, president and CEO of Akamai. "Nine Systems has established itself as a leader in the creation of powerful Web-based tools for businesses to easily produce, publish, and distribute their streaming and downloadable media. Integrating Stream OS into our delivery network will allow Akamai to more fully support asset control, rights management, and media reporting to better enable our customers' digital media businesses."
"This is a big win for our customers, and for companies requiring rich media management, publishing, and robust delivery," said Troy Snyder, president and CEO of Nine Systems. "Nine Systems' rich media publishing and management tools already power the online media experience for some of today's best known companies in the music, broadcast, sports, entertainment, inspirational, advertising, education, and government markets. By joining forces with Akamai, our customers will have access to the leader in accelerating content and applications online, supported by a combination of the most experienced teams in the industry."
Sagan continued, "We believe that as our business supporting media clients grows and their needs advance, the combined Akamai and Nine Systems rich media framework will allow us to develop the best solutions to help our customers simplify the control, management, distribution, reporting, and monetization of digital assets on the Internet."
Under terms of the agreement, Akamai will acquire all of the outstanding common stock, preferred stock, and vested and unvested stock options of Nine Systems by issuing approximately 3.1 million shares of Akamai common stock and approximately $7 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments. The merger transaction is expected to be accounted for by Akamai under the purchase method of accounting.
About Nine Systems
Nine Systems is the leader in providing a comprehensive solution for rich media production, publishing and distribution in today's most popular formats. Nine Systems' large selection of rich media management tools allows content owners to control all aspects of their media in a robust, yet easy to use application, Stream OS. Nine Systems powers the online media experience for many of today's best-known brands including Universal Music Group, the NBA, CinemaNow, CBS SportsLine and EMI Music. Privately held, Nine Systems is headquartered in San Diego, California, with a Network Operations Center (NOC) in Denver, Colorado, and sales offices around the U.S. For more information, visit www.ninesystems.com.
Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. (AMEX: MEM) was the acting advisor to Nine Systems in the merger transaction.
About Akamai
Akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online. Thousands of organizations have formed trusted relationships with Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web solutions of tomorrow. Akamai is "The Trusted Choice for Online Business." For more information, visit www.akamai.com.
Anuradha Muralidharan, Media Relations, Akamai Technologies, Inc, +91 (080) 575 99222 amuralidharan@akamai.com
Jeff Young, Media Relations, Akamai Technologies, Inc., 617-444-3913 jyoung@akamai.com
Source: Akamai (Business Wire India)